The St. Thomas men’s basketball team played their final game of the postseason on Tuesday night, losing to the Seattle University Redhawks 67-52 in the Redhawk Center in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The game was a Seattle U defensive clinic, with the Redhawks grabbing nine steals, tallying seven blocks and forcing 21 St. Thomas turnovers. Seattle held the Tommies to nearly 30 less points than their per game average of 81.8.
“They’re one of the better defensive teams we’ve seen in the last five years…They’re physical, they’re tough, they can really guard you one-on-one,” St. Thomas coach Johnny Tauer said at the postgame press conference in Seattle.
The Redhawk defense put a stop to St. Thomas first-year guard Nick Janowski and sophomore guard Nolan Minessale’s typical scoring, holding Minessale to seven points and Janowski to four in the first half. Minessale averaged 19.8 points and Janowski averaged 16.1 on the season.
Without the Janowski and Minessale scoring duo, sophomore forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu kept the Tommies alive early in the game. The sophomore went 6-6 and scored 10 points, including two three-pointers, in the first half.
Johnson-Arigu finished the first half with a quick layup to give UST a 31-30 lead heading into halftime. Nobody else scored in the double digits for the Tommies in the first half.
Returning from the locker room, UST started the second half hot with six straight points from Minessale, increasing their lead to 37-30. After Minessale’s brief scoring stretch, the Redhawks took control of the half.
“[Seattle] has really athletic kids, and I think some of it is that they pressure the ball well. And they can get you in compromising spots,” Tauer said.
For the rest of the game, Seattle U sophomore forward Will Heimbrodt dominated the court, scoring 10 points and blocking three UST shots. Heimbrodt led the West Coast Conference in blocks with 83 this season. The sophomore is tied for sixth in the entire NCAA.
Along with Heimbrodt’s defensive dominance, the Redhawks successfully cycled the ball through their whole team’s hands, finishing with five players scoring in double digits. Senior guard Brayden Maldonado led Seattle in scoring with 15 points.
St. Thomas had no offensive answer for Seattle in the second half, shooting 8-27 from the field and 1-12 from deep. The only player to score off of St. Thomas’ bench in the second half was Johnson-Arigu, who scored two points.
Minessale scored 8 points in the second half, but fouled out of the game after committing an offensive charge foul with 2:28 remaining on the clock.
With Minessale on the bench, Seattle U senior forward Junseok Yeo, assisted by Heimbrodt, sealed the Redhawk victory with a two-handed dunk with 1:24 left in the game.
Although they lost in the NIT, the Tommies continued to build their program this past year, finishing with their third straight 20-win season in the brand-new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. This was their first year of eligibility to play in a national postseason tournament.
The Tommies had one of the most-high-powered offenses in the country this season, averaging over 80 points per game and boasting a field goal percentage of 50.6%. If they stay, UST could return all but one of their players who played more than two minutes per game.
“To advance in our first year of eligibility to the NIT, I think is another step in the right direction for this program,” Tauer said. “Growth is not usually linear, and we’ve been fortunate in five years to have linear growth year after year.”
Owen Bell can be reached at bell9606@stthomas.edu.
